Water heaters are designed for durability, but they also do a tremendous amount of work in homes around the year. Compare the water heater in your house to the heating system you use to stay warm. You only run the heater during the cold months of the year, and it gets a long summer vacation. Your water heater, on the other hand, works almost every day. All that wear and tear takes a toll, and at some point you’ll confront a water heater that’s on the way out. At what point do you know it’s time to stop repairing your water heater and get a new one?
Signs You’ve Got a Dying Water Heater
January 17th, 2022Pinhole Leaks: A Sneaky Plumbing Problem
January 3rd, 2022
Locating hidden leaks in homes is an important part of our job as professional plumbers. Because so much of the piping in a house is hidden in walls and ceilings, leaks often escape detection for long stretches—sometimes until they start to cause damage to parts of the house.
And no type of hidden leak is harder to notice at first than pinhole leaks. The name can give you an idea why these are tricky to find: they’re extremely small. But small leaks are still major problems, especially if they escape notice for long enough.
There’s more to pinhole leaks, and we’ll go over the details below. If you suspect any type of plumbing leak in your house, call us for pipe repair in Winnetka, IL.
How to Resolve (And Prevent) Frozen Pipes
December 20th, 2021
When you live in a place with icy winters, you’ll face the same concern every year with your plumbing: the fear of frozen pipes. Handling frozen pipes is an important job for anyone who does professional plumbing in Wilmette, IL for a living. We’ve certainly handled our fair share of frozen pipe repairs in the years we’ve been in business.
What can you do about frozen pipes? The simple answer is to call us. There are various “home remedies” you can uncover online, but attempting to thaw a frozen pipe often leads to the pipe bursting because of the increase in internal pressure. We’re ready to help when you have frozen pipes, and we have 24/7 service available. We are here for you!
For the rest of this post, we’ll go into some important tips on how you can avoid frozen pipes in the first place.
We Are BBB Accredited!
December 16th, 2021It’s important for us to earn the trust of our customers—we want you to know that when you reach out to us, you’ll receive the quality plumbing work you need from skilled plumbers, as well as honest and helpful customer service.
This is why it’s important for us to have a Certificate of Accreditation from the Better Business Bureau. BBB accreditation means that we’ve proven our trustworthiness as a company through transparent business practices, responsiveness, honest advertising, safeguarding privacy, honoring promises, and embodying integrity. We’ve held this accreditation since 2011 and we have no plans to fall below these high standards.
Reliance Plumbing Sewer & Drainage, Inc. serves the Northshore and Northwest Chicagoland Area.
Why Store-Bought Drain Cleaners Are No Gift
December 6th, 2021
We’re not implying that you would ever purchase drain cleaners as a gift for someone, no matter the holiday! No, what we want to get across to you today is that you can give yourself that gift of a fully-working plumbing system in great shape … by avoiding store-bought drain cleaners.
These bottles of chemicals may have “drain cleaner” in their name, but this is a result of marketing from the companies that make them. No professional plumber recommends anyone use drain cleaners for unclogging sinks, showers, toilets, or any other drain. These drain cleaners don’t really “clean” either—except in the most blunt-force way. Using a drain cleaner on a clog is similar to using a flame-thrower to remove a tree stump from your yard. Yes, you might get the stump, but you’ll also torch most of your property and might put yourself and your house in danger.
How to Stop a Running Toilet
November 22nd, 2021
After a toilet flushes, you’ll hear it running as it fills up the tank. This takes less than a minute in most cases, and then it shuts off. If you hear the toilet continuing to run for longer, something is wrong. Sometimes you can jiggle the flush handle to stop it, but if it continues each time the toilet flushes or it doesn’t respond to moving the handle, you’ll have to look into other methods. In some cases, it will take a professional plumber in skokie, IL to fix the problem.
And we want you to know that this is a problem. If you choose to just “live with” the toilet making the refilling noise, you’ll end up wasting enormous amounts of water that will raise your bills. Let’s see what you (or we) can do to stop a running toilet.
The Holiday Season and Your Plumbing System: What You Should Know
November 8th, 2021
Before you shove those potato skins or eggshells down the kitchen sink drain and assume that your garbage disposal system will take care of it, we urge you to read this blog post. Although it’s very convenient and simple to use, your garbage disposal system does have it’s limits, and those limits are quite often found during the holiday season. In fact, this is the time of year that our plumbers get the most plumbing repair calls–and they’re usually in regards to a clogged kitchen sink drain that’s causing a backup, and/or a jammed up and damaged garbage disposal system.
So before you cook that holiday meal, let’s talk about some prep work that doesn’t get a lot of attention–taking care of your plumbing system. Read on as we uncover what shouldn’t go down your kitchen sink drain this holiday season.
Knocking Pipes: What This Symptom Means for Your Plumbing System
October 25th, 2021
Let’s say you’re sleeping, or at least relaxing comfortably, in your home, and all of the sudden you’re aware of a perhaps soft but persistent knocking coming from your walls…
It can be quite alarming! Fortunately, it’s not a plumbing emergency, but it’s still a plumbing problem you’ll want to pay attention to. Ignore it and you’ll only notice the sound getting louder and louder.
So what is it that you’re hearing? Knocking pipes!
There are solutions to this nuisance, which we will get into below. In the meantime, if you need reliable plumbing services, emergency or not, don’t hesitate to dial our number!
What Types of Leaks Are Most Popular?
October 11th, 2021
Whoever said that being “popular” was a good thing had it all wrong. Just like you don’t want those popular mean girls in your home, you also don’t want popular leaks in your plumbing system.
The good news is, however, since they’re popular, we know what to look for, and we’re prepared to share some wisdom with you! From leaky pipe joints from aging plumbing to slab leaks, there are some common leaks that if you know what to look for, you can mitigate damage before they turn into huge emergencies. Of course, our team is here to help whether you only suspect a plumbing problem and need leak detection, or you need us for emergency repairs after finding a burst pipe has water gushing into your property.
Without further ado, the most “popular” leaks include:
- Pipe leaks under sinks due to loose joints.
- Slab leaks, a.k.a foundational leaks.
- Leaks in pipes behind drywall.
- Toilet leaks.
- Water heater leaks.
So, what are the signs a leak like this is occurring? Read on!
These Items Should Never Go Down Your Kitchen Sink Drain!
September 27th, 2021
Before you decide to throw that banana peel or stray stalk of celery down the garbage disposal to get rid of it, stop and read this blog post!
Garbage disposal systems are incredibly convenient and easy to use. However, homeowners and household members often don’t realize that their garbage disposal wasn’t created to pass everything down the kitchen sink drain. In fact, there are quite a few items that people put down their kitchen sink drain that just doesn’t belong there.
So, we thought it would be beneficial to provide homeowners with a guide about what can, and what should not, go down their kitchen sink drains, even if they have a garbage disposal in place. Reading this blog post can go a long way in preventing messy and annoying plumbing problems.